armory rant, part deux

brooklynpotter wrote: armchair, that's a place on 5th ave that, while people don't want it there, will provide real housing to people in need as well as social services.

btw what type of place is it. i forgotten since the last time i heard about i t.

doesn't say if its a place for former crack heads or so on.

hehe i was curious to see what type of housing its for.

i don't exactly remember from reading about the place along time ago.

I live by the Armory too and have had problem with residents loitering on my steps, leaving cigarette butts, beer bottles (actually Smirnoff Ice bottles), rolling papers and the occasional condom. The topper was during one rainy night when the front door of the building didn't completely close all the way, there were a few of the ladies inside the lobby just hanging out.

Now I didn't want to be a dick and tell them not to sit on the steps and litter the stoop, so I usually just walked around them into my building. Some of them would say "good evening" or something, so I felt it wasn't worth getting upset over. But when they were in my building (but not past the inner door) that bothered me and then came the boyfriend. This guy would sit on our steps from 8 in the morning until late at night. When I asked what he was doing, he said "waiting for my girl". And he would sit there with his food and drinks, sprawled out on the steps and give you attitude when you asked him to move so you could get into the building.

After we found our lobby littered with bottles one morning, a couple of neighbors and I walked over to see if we could talk to someone and find a nice resolution to the issue. However, we never got past the security guard. She was nice enough but her advice was this: "We kick them out every morning and they have to find stuff to do. If they are trespassing or loitering, call the police." When we said we didn't want to escalate that if we could just get them to not block the steps or litter, she just repeated, "There is nothing we can do here. Call the police if they are loitering."

So I don't know what kind of services they are receiving there, but based on that interaction, the services don't seem terribly comprehensive.

To wrap this up, I did see a cop in front of my building one morning with the boyfriend was sitting there and I spoke to the cops and they talked to the guy and he hasn't been back (on the steps). But he still hangs out on the corner by the deli and gives me a dirty look whenever I walk by.

Sorry for the long post. My point is, I'm not a NIMBY guy, but I'm just not sure what the shelter is doing to help these women if their advice is to have them arrested if they are bothering you.

From the CAMBA website:

"Park Slope Shelter for Women: CAMBA operates a homeless shelter for 70 MICA (mentally ill chemical abusing) women at the Park Slope Armory in Brooklyn. This supportive, structured and therapeutic facility provides temporary housing, nutritious meals and comprehensive services and assistance to enable mentally-ill and often substance-abusing women to stabilize their condition and move toward permanent and/or supported housing."

If the behavior you're witnessing does not reflect this mission, I would start by contacting the organization and letting them know. Don't talk to the security guard; call someone on staff (preferably the Executive Director, Joanne M. Oplustil.) Tell them you're a community member, and this is your expereience with these women. Encourage other community members to do the same.

I work for a social service organizaiton myself, and throwing mentally-ill women out into the street every day and telling them to "find something to do" does not sound like "supportive, structured and therapeutic" treatment. It sounds like the same crap that happens (and continually fails) at city-run shelters. They should be made aware of the situation, held accoutable and given a chance to respond/rectify it.